Epidemiology of Leishmaniasis in Spain Based on Hospitalization Records (1997–2008)

Abstract

Abstract. All the records from the Spanish information system for hospital data of patients diagnosed with leishmaniasis during a 12-year period (1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008) were studied. The 2,028 individuals were hospitalized because of leishmaniasis, as indicated by the principal diagnostic code. The average hospitalization rate was 0.41/100,000 inhabitants. One-third of them were co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The incidence of hospitalization in the adult population with leishmaniasis co-infected with HIV increased with age, peaked at 35-39 years of age and subsequently declined. In the pediatric population, all leishmaniasis cases occurred in HIV-negative children. Incidence of hospitalizations was highest in Madrid and in the Mediterranean coast. The cost per inpatient hospital care was $9,601 corresponding to an annual direct cost of more than $1.5 million for inpatient care alone. The economical burden of leishmaniasis is not neglectable and in the 12-year study period it represented more than $19 million.

Re-emergence of leishmaniasis in Spain: community outbreak in Madrid, Spain, 2009 to 2012

“…To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest community outbreak described in Spain and in Europe. Furthermore, it occurred in an urban setting where the prevalence of leishmaniasis was previously very low, a very different case to other outbreaks described in the literature [16][17][18][19][20][21][22].…”

Diagnosis of leishmaniasis

“…Immunosuppression may reactivate latent Leishmania infection in asymptomatic patients and among HIV/AIDS patients. It is known that Leishmania has emerged as an opportunistic disease among HIV patients in endemic areas [109][110][111][112]. Moreover, it has been noted that the risks of clinical VL in HIV patients increased by 100 to 1,000) [111].…”

Identification of blood meals in field captured sand flies by a PCR-RFLP approach based on cytochrome b gene

“…Actually, one of the areas studied in this study belongs to this affected area, where the mean incidence rate reached 44.55 cases per100,000 inhabitants in 2013 (data provided by Autonomous Community of Madrid). In case of Mediterranean area, other studied region, Minorca (Balearic Islands), were reported an emergence of canine leishmaniasis (Gil-Prieto et al 2011, Arce et al 2013.…”